A new 400 HO engine with wilder camshaft and free-flowing exhaust shot an impressive 335 horsepower to the three-speed stick, four-speed (standard or close-ratio), or Turbo Hydra-Matic. Even the regular 400 V-8 included a floor-shift, chrome engine parts, and dual-scoop hood.

Pontiac Firebirds and other General Motors products adopted Astro-Ventilation this year. That simply meant vent wings ahead of the door windows were gone -- a modification less popular with the general public than with GM executives. One-piece door glass looked neat, but didn't do much for airflow.

At midyear, a Ram Air II engine appeared, rated at 340 horsepower, considerably less than the GTO's Ram Air V-8. New round-port cylinder heads gave the engine better breathing. The Ram Air II option included such goodies as a high-lift camshaft, forged aluminum pistons, and Arma-steel crankshaft.

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The 1968 Pontiac Firebird 350 had few visual and mechanical changes from the 1967 models.